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If there are human beings on Earth in the year 52,001, and they happen to
look to the northern sky
one evening and find it filled with a shimmering aurora, they can thank
Jean-Marc Philippe for the
light show. Philippe, an artist in Paris, is the creator of KEO, a
satellite designed to stay in orbit for
50,000 years. When KEO finally plunges back into the atmosphere, an ice age
or so from now, its
disintegrating heat shield will generate spectacular streamers of
light--"to alert our descendants that
something abnormal has happened," says Philippe. As the northern lights
fade, KEO's core, a
small titanium sphere, will fall to Earth somewhere, intact. Inside will be
letters from us. >>

I know that someone was asking about projects/lessons for the Millenium.
This gives me an idea...Perhaps folding a large sheet of paper diagonally,
and illustrating "today" in one triangle, and "the possible future" in
another. This artwork, if/when found in the future, could visually
communicate something about "Us" to "Them" without words...what if language
evolves by then and "They" cannot understand our written word?? Pose this
question to students, make them think about something important to them,
today, NOW, while making them imagine (always fun) the possibilities of the
future!
MP